Love is Blind
by genericnamehere
Summary: America realizes he is in love with Canada. Now he just has to let Canada know.
1. Chapter 1

Alfred wasn't sure when it happened. One minute, he and Matthew were going crazy, shoving each other out of the way watching hockey together, (nearly getting into a brawl of their own as Abdelkader and Mitchell duked it out on the ice) and the next…Well, he wasn't really sure. Maybe that's why he didn't know when it happened.

Was Matthew always so flushed with excitement, cheeks a glowing pink and breaths short and shallow? While they were wrestling, his jersey had slipped slightly off his shoulder, and he was too busy cheering that impossible block that MacDonald pulled at the last possible moment. Alfred should have been yelling in anger. How did they miss the shot? It was over the line, it was obviously a goal! Shit, now they'd have to go into overtime. But he was too distracted by the slope of Matthew's neck meeting his shoulder.

He blinked a few times and shook his head, shooting Matthew a sheepish grin as he noticed him staring back at him with a raised brow.

"Haha, sorry about that. There's that wildfire in California, and it's a little distracting at times. The smoke gives me a headache. Hey, I'm gonna grab another beer. Want one?"

Matthew grinned and sat back down, fixing his shirt, to Alfred's surprised dismay.

"Yeah sure. But get me the good stuff. I can't drink that piss you insist is beer."

He laughed, bringing up his hands to block as Alfred picked up the nearest throw pillow and tossed it at his head. Alfred smiled as he turned, heading into the kitchen, reveling in that glorious sound of laughter. He stopped, hand midway to the beer in the fridge as the realization hit him.

He was in love.


	2. Chapter 2

As he pulled their beers out of the fridge and fumbled around for the bottle opener, he wondered what he should do with this new revelation. Well, the obvious thing to do would be to come out and tell him. You know, hey, Mattie, I love you.

But that was so boring! And it's not like it wasn't anything he hadn't said before. He just hadn't realized what kind of love it was at that time. No, he couldn't just come out and say it. He'd have to show it, too. But how? He looked at the beer in his hands.

Matthew jumped, throwing his arms up, not noticing as he bumped something. "GOOOOOAAAAALLLL! Yeah! Woo! O Canada! Our home and native land! True patriot love in all thy sons command!"

He turned to call Alfred, who was taking way too long to get a beer, and blinked when he found him standing right behind him holding out a now mostly empty frosted mug of beer. Only mostly, because he was just standing silently, looking at the glass, mortified, as the rest of the beer dripped off his hair and chin. Odd. Al never brought out the frosted mugs. He saved them for the championship events. He reached out, taking the mug, noting that something written on the mug must have been wiped off when he bumped it.

"Ah, sorry about that, Al. You okay?" Alfred looked slightly defeated as he looked away from the mug and gave him a smile.

"Oh...yeah...So, the Maple Leafs won, huh? That was quick." Matthew raised a brow; he was suddenly a lot more subdued. What happened to bitter rivalry, and my Red Wings will kick your Pansy Leafs ass any day of the week?

"Yeah, well, it's not like it's hard. Looks like they're entering another Dead Wings era. But hey, you still have 23 more teams that might stand a chance if they stopped sucking so much!" Matthew grinned and downed what remained of the beer quickly, before picking up one of the leftover napkins from their pizza. "Oh, come here, you big baby."

When Alfred flushed as he started wiping the rest of the beer off his face, an idea came to Matthew. He glanced at the mug on the table, and even though the message had been wiped off, the way the condensation lingered made it obvious what it had said. Matthew quickly looked back to what he was doing, and tried to keep from smiling to himself. It was kind of sweet, and judging from the thoughtfully distracted look on Alfred's face, he was already planning attempt number 2.

Maybe he'd wait and see how this played out.


	3. Chapter 3

Hockey Night usually meant sleep-overs. And, for Matthew, that meant waking up and making pancakes with maple syrup because they were ('just-so-amazing-and-better-than-crack-and-why-do-you-think-I-came-up-with-Hockey-Night-anyway-Mattie') apparently pretty good. As usual, he yawned, not bothering to fix his hair or the way his pajamas had bunched and fallen as he shuffled to Alfred's kitchen. He tended to enjoy this part of the morning because aside from the occasion snoring seeping out of Alfred's bedroom, it was the only time the place was quiet.

Something was off this morning though. The closer he got to the kitchen, the more he became aware of the scent of slightly burnt pancakes. He hadn't been sleepwalking and started making them already, had he? No, that was impossible. A smoke alarm would have--

As a loud beeping started to fill the house, he heard someone swearing in the kitchen. At least it wasn't his fault. There were a few loud bangs, then the sound of the alarm crashing to the ground and dying. Poor thing didn't stand a chance. Couldn't even defend itself. He shook his head, then stopped outside the kitchen, peeking around the corner to where Alfred had returned to a tray. From what Matthew could tell there was a glass of orange juice and a stack of pancakes, which he was currently concentrating very hard on putting syrup on.

"Damn it syrup! Stop spreading out everywhere! How is he gonna read this if it's all...syrup-ed together?" Oh, how cute. Matthew smiled a bit and quietly moved away from the kitchen, going back to his room. He'd have to be 'asleep' after all for breakfast in bed.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, there was a light tapping on the door as it was pushed open. He "stirred" and opened his eyes slowly, wincing from the light.

"Al? ...What are you doing awake?" He fumbled around the bedside table, pulling his glasses on. "What time is it?"

Alfred half shrugged as he brought the tray over. "I dunno. Didn't look. But, I woke up early, so I figured I'd make you breakfast for once..." (Matthew wondered if he slept at all last night.) He looked to the side to hide a light blush spreading across his cheeks. Did he have any idea how cute he looked right now? Probably not.

"And you brought it in here? Wow, even I'm not nice enough to do that. Thanks." As Matthew took the tray, he noted the confession written out on his pancakes, as well as the fact that the tray also had one of those small vases with a single red rose in it. He had no idea Alfred had such a romantic streak in him. He thought for a moment about whether he should accept the confession, or see where Alfred would go with this.

He glanced out the corner of his eye at Alfred, who was trying (and failing) to act uninterested, and made his decision.

He picked up his fork and knife and started eating. "Wow, these are great! A little burnt, but not bad for a beginner." The defeat on Alfred's face lasted only a few moments before it was replaced with determination.


	4. Chapter 4

Are all Canadians this dull? Alfred frowned a bit to himself as he watched Matthew eat the pancakes he was up all night deciding to make. Ok. Maybe that was an exaggeration. It took 5 minutes to decide. He stayed up all night because he didn't trust himself to wake up in time otherwise. Thankfully, this meant he had plenty of time to think of a backup plan.

"You don't have to go home right away, do you Mattie?" Matthew blinked and looked up, and Alfred resisted the urge to wipe the drop of syrup off the corner of his mouth for about a second.

He smiled a bit as Matthew's eyes widened slightly as he leaned over, swiping his finger lightly over the spot and brought his finger to his lips, licking the syrup off. What? Flirting was part of confessing your love. Can you think of a better way to say 'I love you more than I love your crack pancakes?'

"Wh-why? Did you have something in mind, Al?" Alfred inwardly sighed. Not even a 'why did you do that?'No matter, he had a plan, after all.

"Well, the polar bear at the zoo near here just had a baby, so I was thinking of going. They're naming it today. If you don't have to go anywhere, I'd love it if you came, too. We could make a day of it! And...picnic or something. They have a nice park there, too." He bit down on the inside of his cheek as he watched Matthew ponder it for a moment. This was torture! The longest not a minute of his life!

"Sure, Al. But...do you mind if I finish eating first?" Alfred missed what Matthew said, because he was too busy grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah, sure." Alfred turned and hurried out of the room; he had to get ready to go! In his haste to get to his room, he bumped and tripped over an endtable in the hallway. Who the hell put that there? Well, he had...he must have drunk. He picked himself up and hurried into his room, nearly tearing off his closet door in his haste to open it. He was going on a date, and he had to look his best!

A ringing sound interrupted the tornado of clothes flying through his room as Alfred paused to answer his phone.

"Hello? Oh, hey Iggy! I can't talk right now! I'm going on a date and nothing I have is good enough to wear. I wonder if I have enough time to run to the store...what do you mean I better not take them to McDonald's? ...It is so fine dining! You wouldn't know because you have no sense of taste!...Oh, shut up! And anyway, I'm not because he doesn't like them, and I'll make something for a picnic...Hey! I'm a better cook than you!"

He never noticed Matthew, who had run out to check on him when he heard the crash, at his door, nor the smile that crept on his face when he mentioned that it was a date.


	5. Chapter 5

After he had showered, changed, and called his boss to tell him he'd be heading back later than planned, Matthew went downstairs to look for Alfred. He'd been downstairs for more than an hour now, and it was strangely quiet. His search ended when he heard Alfred's hushed voice as he approached the kitchen. He peeked into the kitchen to see Alfred hanging up his phone and looking at what must have been a cookbook.

"Well, if this is how they end up looking, I can see why they call them Beaver Tails. Lessee...what would Mattie like on his?" Seemed like a good time to enter.

"What would I like on my what?" Matthew grinned as he watched Alfred jump, squirting the chocolate syrup out of the bottle at himself. He tried to resist laughing, but couldn't help but to snicker when Alfred turned, revealing that it had gotten all over his face and the top of his shirt. And he had spent so long picking that one out, too.

"N-nothing! I was just, uh...making lunch! Well, I already made lunch, but I thought we'd want a snack, too!" Matthew smiled a bit as he grabbed a paper towel and wet it in the sink.

"Well, why don't you let me finish that," he walked over and reached up, taking off Texas, "and you go ahead and get cleaned up. We have to get going soon, right?"

He used the paper towel to wipe the chocolate off the glasses. He kept his head down so his hair would hide it as he glanced up at Alfred, who was just watching him with a look like... Well, Matthew figured it was somewhere between being dumbfounded and swooning. They should make up a word for that. Dumbswooning, maybe.

"Y-yeah, okay." Matthew smiled and put his glasses back on when they were cleaned, then took him by his shoulders, and steered him to the door.

"Good, now go." As Alfred walked out of the room, Matthew called after him. "By the way, Al, that color looks good on you, you should wear it more often."

Matthew couldn't help but laugh as Alfred gave him what had to be a 1000 watt smile and bolted upstairs. From the crash that followed, he guessed that he managed to fall over that table again. Yeah, he was loving this side of Alfred.

As he walked over to finish what Alfred had started, he peeked in the basket to see what his brother had made for them to have for lunch. Seemed pretty standard. Sandwiches, chips, and cole slaw. Practical considering their plans for the day. He looked down at the Beaver Tails Alfred had been making. They didn't seem burnt or anything. He picked off a piece from what appeared to be Alfred's test one, and chewed thoughtfully as he set to work finishing them.

The other nations would never believe him if he told them about all of this.


	6. Chapter 6

Alfred smiled as he walked down one of the pathways at the zoo with Matthew. They had seen most of the animals by now, and had already had lunch. Sure, they were too late to see the introduction of the polar bear courtesy of his chocolate mishap, but that was okay.

He had spent a good portion of the morning making even better plans for this trip. If Mattie didn't realize how much he loved him after this...well, he'd probably just try again, but that was besides the point! Because he would totally realize it! The plan was THAT foolproof. He caught sight of the polar bear exhibit and grinned, taking Matthew's hand, increasing his pace.

"Whoa, Al! Where's the fire? The bears aren't going to go anywhere!" Alfred smiled again as he looked back at Matthew while still walking. The look on his face was priceless as he fumbled to keep his balance. It was just so cute!

Alfred wondered how he never noticed it before yesterday. Everything about Mattie and everything he did was amazing. The cute way his hair fell all over the place when he just woke up. How he'd just roll his eyes at him and call him an idiot. How fiercely aggressive he got when it came to hockey. Alfred regretted that he never really paid that much attention to anything before. But it was going to be different now. Mattie had his attention anytime he wanted it.

Like now, when he was motioning and flailing and oh, what was he saying?

"Al! Watch-!" There was a suddenly flash of white then black followed by pain as Alfred walked right into the heavy door of the employee's entrance to the polar bear exhibit. "...out." Alfred blinked a few times in a daze before pushing himself off the door. Well, there went his pride.

"Al, are you okay?" Alfred looked over at Matthew, and couldn't help but smile seeing the concerned look on his face.

"I am now." Matthew smiled with a relieved look on his face, and Alfred turned back to knock on the door.

Unfortunately, the employee inside chose that moment to rush out to see what could have caused such a loud crash, and as he turned the door was thrown open, hitting him in the face again. The last thing he saw before everything went black was Matthew's worried face over his.


	7. Chapter 7

Alfred opened his eyes and found himself staring at a familiar ceiling: his own. When did he get home? He struggled for a moment, trying to recall, but sighed when he drew a blank. Did he just dream all that up? His boring ceiling was suddenly replaced by an angel looming over him. He was dead? How the hell did that happen?!

"Oh, you're finally awake. The doctor said that you weren't really unconscious so much as you were asleep. At first, I didn't believe him, but then you started snoring. All the same, I thought I should stay here until you woke up." Alfred reached up, putting a finger over his lips to silence him.

"We're not at the zoo anymore?" Matthew shook his head, letting Alfred leave his finger where it was for the time being. Alfred was too busy falling apart to notice, however. All his planning wasted! That just wasn't fair! He was fairly certain he'd start crying from exasperation at how hopeless this was all turning out to be, so he threw his other arm over his eyes to hide it (noting offhandedly that Matthew, sweet sweet angel that he was, had even taken off Texas so he'd be more comfortable).

Matthew pulled Alfred's finger off his lips.

"They introduced me to the baby polar bear and let me feed him while the doctor was checking on you." Alfred peeked out from under his arm. They still carried out everything for him? Oh, those geniuses! He'd have to remember to send them Christmas cards with some cash in them. Surely then someone would have told Matthew that he had asked them to let him feed the cub and name it--

"They named it Matty. Isn't that an amazing coincidence? Who would have thought that the American kids who voted for the names would choose that? Isn't that how you name the baby animals at zoos here? It was so cute, too. Kumakichi would have been so jealous! They took pictures for me. I'll email them to...Al? Are...are you crying?"

Alfred quickly moved his arm back over his eyes and sucked in a breath. Correction, he was going to set bags of dog shit on fire on their porches! TP their trees and throw eggs at their windows!

"Nah, I'm not crying Mattie. My head still just hurts a bit. I'm fine..."

He felt Matthew watching him silently for a minute, but didn't trust himself not to start bawling right there if he moved his arm. Why? Why was this so hard? Was he doing something wrong, or was Matthew really this oblivious?

Matthew sighed and leaned over, patting his shoulder.

"I have to get going now. I have a lot of work to do at home, and you were asleep a lot longer than I thought you'd be. Take care of yourself, ok?"

He felt Matthew get off the bed, and blushed a bit. He hadn't realized til now that he was even on it with him. Fingers lightly brushed his hair for a moment and there was a warm breath tickling his ears.

"I had fun today. Let's do something together again soon, ok?"

Alfred swallowed heavily and just nodded a bit, and when he heard the door shut and footsteps heading away from the room, he finally moved his arm from his eyes.

He could do this. He would do this.

There's ALWAYS a next time, after all.


	8. Chapter 8

It was Hockey Night again. It always amazed Matt that they never specified what qualified a night as Hockey Night; it just was and they just knew. At first he thought that maybe it was just when a Canadian team was playing an American team, but that couldn't be it. A couple weeks ago, they had watched the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Vancouver Canucks. Tonight, they'd be watching the New York Rangers against the New Jersey Devils. He didn't know which team he was going to cheer for yet. Alfred would bring a jersey for him when he showed up, and they'd go from there.

The Stanley Cup playoffs would be starting soon, and Hockey Night would become an every night thing, with their work from their bosses piled up around them as they tried to keep up on it (they never did).

He flopped on his couch after he finished cleaning, and looked up at his ceiling. There was still an indent from when Alfred had gotten too excited during a game a couple years back, and threw his hockey stick a little too high. They decided then that they wouldn't bring the hockey sticks anymore. Amazing it took them that long to realize it was a bad idea, when the broken glasses, spilled drinks and ruined remotes didn't do it.

He didn't realize until now how much he loved these nights, where it was just the two of them. The problems in their countries and the world didn't exist, didn't matter. It was just the two of them. No one was ever invited to join them. Plans would be canceled to make time. It didn't matter what was going on in the world.

No, he did know that he loved these nights. He didn't know why though.

All of Alfred's "failed" attempts to profess his love for Matthew made him think about it. Why did he keep letting Alfred try to woo him and profess his love to him? Well, aside from being adorable and incredibly dorky (adorkable seemed like a good word to describe Alfred), it made him feel noticed.

No, that wasn't it either. There were plenty of nations that noticed him, even if it was after confusing him for Alfred.

He closed his eyes, letting out a breathless laugh as he recalled Alfred's burnt pancakes, and his futile attempts at arguing with the syrup, as if it would suddenly stop being syrup and stay in place. Only Alfred could think that would work, and he kept going anyway when it didn't. He always kept going. He tripped over tables, got chocolate all over himself, and walked into doors, but Matthew still had roses on his porch the next day. And the day after. And today, too.

He was running out of vases for them.

Right now, they were on his coffee table, with the pictures of him and the baby polar bear. Except the one that Kumakichi broke. He needed a new frame for that.

Matthew opened his eyes when there was a knock at the door, and realized that his own mouth was bent in that goofy, lovestruck grin as he was thinking of everything Alfred had done. It was that late already? Did he fall asleep? Or...Was he dumbswooning now?

Suddenly, it all became clear to him. Why he loved the attention he was getting from Alfred; why Hockey Night meant so much to him; and, most of all, why he would leave subtle hints because he was afraid that maybe Alfred would stop trying so much if he didn't.

He was in love with Alfred.


	9. Chapter 9

Matthew wasn't entirely sure what it was or how to describe it, but suddenly being around Alfred felt different. As they sat next to each other on the couch, he found it was hard to concentrate on the actual game, even as he went through the motions of being a total hockey nut. It was just hard to focus when Alfred was right there next to him, all smiles and energy, red faced with excitement and breathing in quick shallow breaths. His mind was going to all the wrong places.

When Alfred had pulled him into a headlock and laughed, Matthew struggled to keep from relaxing into his hold. When his struggles escalated into an otherwise typical wrestling match that pushed up Alfred's jersey, (revealing just a bit of the tanned skin underneath), he knew he had to get out of the room.

As he flipped the burgers in the pan, he wondered if it was this hard for Alfred.

Probably not. Aside from being a little more touchy-feely than usual (or maybe that was just his mind playing tricks on him), he didn't seem nearly as affected by all this as Matthew was. It was kind of surprising, really, that he hadn't tried anything yet. Well, ok. He had sent the roses that morning. But other than that, he was just really focused on the game today.

Matthew frowned a bit as he put a burger for Alfred on its bun. He hadn't already given up, had he? He sighed and reached for the ketchup as a loud yell came from the living room.

"GOOOOOAAAAALLLLL! In your face!" The Devils must be staging a comeback. It was a little late in the game for that though; there were only a few minutes left.

He looked down at the burger, and couldn't help but smile a bit. His mind may be somewhere else, but that didn't stop him from writing a confession of his own on Alfred's burger in ketchup. He placed the bun top beside the burger on the plate, grabbed Alfred's piss-er, beer, and brought both out to the living room.

"Hey Mattie! You almost done in there? The game's almost over! You're gonna miss the best part!"

Matthew smiled as he walked over and set the plate and beer down in front of him.

"Yeah, I'm done." He bit the inside of his cheek as Alfred turned to the food.

Except he wasn't actually looking at it. He was watching the screen as he took the bun, placing it on top of the burger, and devoured it quickly. As Matthew watched in disbelief, he could only think of all Alfred's efforts that he had thwarted on purpose.

Well, damn. He'd been a total asshole.


	10. Chapter 10

Something was bothering Matthew. It didn't take rocket science to figure that out.

Alfred himself had realized it sometime during the 5 minutes he waited at his door before Kumajirou let him in. He affirmed it when it then took Matthew another 5 minutes to break out of whatever daze he was in and realize he was talking to him. He had just been sitting there, kinda looking at the roses Alfred had sent him but not really, with this dumbfounded look on his face. Or maybe (hopefully) it was more like swooning? Was there a word for that kind of look?

He didn't even seem all that into the game today. He was so distracted that Alfred decided to pull him into a headlock. After all, he HAD to pay attention to the game today. If this didn't work, Alfred was fairly certain nothing would. As expected, this led to a wrestling match between the two, and it was so hard not to just let his hand casually slip under Matthew's jersey.

Afterwards, Matthew had excused himself to the kitchen. Had he done something wrong? He was going to ask, but then Matthew mentioned he was making hamburgers today. There was always time to ask after the burgers were done.

"Hey Mattie, you almost done in there? The game's almost over! You're going to miss the best part!" And it was the best part, because it had taken a lot of phone calls, a lot of favors, a lot of coordination, and A LOT of begging, pleading, and loss of his dignity, but it was all worth it.

He hoped so anyway.

Matthew set a plate down in front of him and he knew without looking that it had to be his burger. It was kinda strange that he didn't put the bun on top of it, but Alfred was too busy staring at the timer to pay it any mind. There was only a minute left. He ate it quickly and chased it down with the beer Matthew had brought out. He had to be ready for this. He turned to Matthew as the game ended and blinked. He looked so upset as he stared at Alfred.

"Mattie...are you ok?" Matthew seemed to snap out of whatever daze he was in and nodded a bit dejected.

"Yeah, I'm fine...oh right. Ha! Rangers kicked the Devil's ass...what was the score?" Well that didn't seem very enthusiastic. Before Alfred could point it out, the players were returning back to the ice, and Matthew was staring at the screen. Good.

The fans started cheering loudly as they held up the signs that had been placed on their seats. If a seat was empty next to them, they even picked up the extra sign and held it up as well. Alfred didn't think it could get anymore obvious when they spelled out "I love you, Mattie," but he had taken extra precautions. The cheering died down and was soon replaced with the entire arena (fans, players, and even the announcers) singing "Oh Canada." He was surprised so many of them managed to learn all the words on such short notice, really.

Alfred bit his bottom lightly as he looked over at Matthew, who was still staring at the screen, looking like he was on the verge of crying.

"Mattie...?" He didn't get much further than that as arms were thrown around him and lips were meeting his. Alfred was so thankful this finally worked that he didn't know who he was supposed to be thanking, but he thanked them anyway.

Before he could return the kiss, Matthew pulled away from him and smiled.

"You big idiot. You could have just said it! ...I love you, too."

No problems there. He'd never get tired of saying it.


End file.
